builder and career: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Tree of Life Branches Out with New Styles of Filmmaking

The Tree of Life (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)

Directed and Written by: Terrence Malick

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, and introducing Hunter McCracken

The Tree of Life takes the simple premise of its film and makes so much more. The story follows Jack O'Brien an his relationship with his family in the 1950s in Texas. We see this story through Jack's eyes as a young child (Hunter McCracken) and as adult (Sean Penn). As a young child Jack's we the disillusionment Jack faces while he grows up and deals with his demanding father Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt). There are two different messages Jack receives throughout his young life; he is told by his father that he must not be naive, fight, and not let anyone walk all over him. On the other hand his mother preaches love and represents innocence.

Malick's journey with this film is a true work of art, and does not use his screenplay as the sole way to tell his story like most films. Malick uses imagery, and the impressionistic viewpoint of Jack to tell his story. Using biblical references and imagery Malick creates a work of authorship that takes the the viewer on a journey where light and sound matter more than speech. While watching this film I was not prepared for the journey I was undertaking. There is so much to this film that when it is viewed the viewer must be in a state of calm with nothing but the visuals on their mind.

The main star of this film is not Brad Pitt (although this is one of his best performances I have seen him give), not is it the brilliant newcomers Jessica Chastain (Mrs. O'Brien) or Hunter McCracken who exude subtlety in their looks. The star of this film is cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezski. Lubezski conveys so much with his work throughout the film. Lubezski uses imagery and different lenses to capture the the essence of this film, and it is some of the best cinematography I have ever seen. Alexandre Desplat does a great job blending different classical works with his score that sets the musical mood for the film.

The flaw in the film is that there are moments where Malick gets self indulgent. There is a sequence in the film where for about ten to fifteen minutes there is a highlight of the creation of the universe. Though I see the direction he was going with his piece of art, I think this makes the film seem disjointed. I also thought that the length of the film was something that prevented me from finding Malick's passion which allowed to become self indulgent in unnecessary aspects of the story.

Jessica Chastain's Career Branches Out

Yesterday I went to my favorite movie theatre in Albany the Spectrum. I love the Spectrum for a two
reasons 1) Spectrum is the only theatre in Albany that will play foreign films and documentaries or small independent films 2) The have best popcorn with REAL butter. I saw the film The Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick (review to come). One of the stars of the film was someone I had never seen in a film before, and her name is Jessica Chastain. Not only is Jessica a beautiful woman, but she is also a talented actress on the rise.

With having only seen her in one film it may be hard to judge her potential, but her sheer presence in the film Tree of Life, made me want to see her in more. The film is not completely about the script so with few words Jessica was able to convey so many different emotions.

This upcoming summer Jessica has a bigger supporting role in the film The Help, which is based off the best-selling book about a woman who tells the story of a girl writing a book from the point of the help in Jackson, Mississippi. Jessica will Celia Foote a woman trying to break into society, but she is married to the man the antagonist (Hilly) was in love with; she is also trying to get pregnant. Done well, this could be another great role for her.

Chastain will also be playing Salome in the film Wilde Salome (written and directed by Al Pacino, and adapted from the once banned Oscar Wilde film). Chastain will also be acting opposite Pacino in this film, and I think that when it comes to the classics, Pacino doe it so well, and will help Chastain gain further critical acclaim.

I think Chastain has potential to blossom into a very promising actress.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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Chaos, Disorder, Revolution And...Prince

Book Review: Prince: Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution by Jason Draper

Jason Draper's Prince: Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution is a stunningly thorough, meticulously researched account of one of rock's most influential and trail blazing, yet ultimately mystifying careers.

In just under 300 pages, Draper skillfully condenses all of the highs and lows of the Prince story into a tightly woven narrative. Draper's straight forward, matter of fact story is told with the eye to detail of a master journalist, but easily digested style of a great storyteller.

From the dizzying heights of his commercial peak in the eighties — a time when Prince's record sales and concert tours were matched only by Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen — to his often bizarre career moves (like changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol), Draper's blow-by-blow retelling of events doesn't miss a thing. Whether you are already a Prince fan, or just looking for insight into the star making (and breaking) machinations of the music business, this is a fascinating read.

Although Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution lightly touches on Prince's personal life — including both documented and rumored relationships with everyone from Vanity and Susannah Melvoin to Kim Bassinger, Carmen Elektra and Sheena Easton — Draper wisely places most of his focus on the music. As a result, the single biggest revelation of the book is just how much music Prince has actually recorded over the years.

The fact that Prince's artistic output has been quite prolific (to say the least) is of course hardly a secret to anyone who has followed his career. In the years immediately following his 1984 multi-platinum breakthrough Purple Rain, Prince cranked out albums (both by himself and with a stable of artists including The Time, Vanity and later Appolonia 6, Madhouse, the Family and others), at a dizzying rate — often driving the marketing department at Warner Brothers Records to fits in doing so. In more recent years, Prince has proved himself quite capable of dropping multiple album sets on a continuously revolving series of record labels with the same sort of regularity that the rest of us mere mortals change our underwear.

What is less known however, is the staggering amount of Prince material which remains unreleased, and which the artist himself seems perfectly content to allow to languish in a mysterious "vault" somewhere in Minneapolis. Draper places a particular emphasis on these "lost albums" — which may number as many as his official recordings — with acute detail. For hardcore Prince fans, this alone makes Prince: Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution an essential read.

In addition to these lost recordings, Draper also reveals little known insider details about Prince's various business dealings (Glam Slam, Paisley Park Records) and his often volatile relationships with the musicians he has worked with. In one of the more interesting stories here, Draper recounts how a reunion with the Revolution — arguably his most successful band — was scuttled when Prince suggested that band members Wendy and Lisa would have to renounce their lesbian relationship (Prince himself had just become a newly converted Jehovah's Witness at the time).

The picture which ultimately emerges from this book is that of an enigmatic, if not always pragmatic personality whose undeniable talent has perhaps only been held back by his own stubbornness.

On the one hand, Prince remains one of only a handful of artists to have reached his iconic level — Neil Young is another which comes immediately to mind — strictly on his own musical and artistic terms. On the other, this refusal to compromise has also resulted in some of the most colossal marketing blunders ever to come within a whisker of sinking a career. The "love symbol" phase, along with Prince's battles with Warner Brothers, and more recently, releasing far too many records on numerous labels for even the most devoted fan to keep up with would have been certain career-enders for a lesser artist. Prince's rationale for these, and other equally strange career decisions have never been adequately explained, and they aren't here either.

At the same time, Prince's innovations as an artist are beyond question. From pioneering the concept of multi-racial, gender bending bands in the eighties with the Revolution, to being among the earliest rock stars to embrace the possibilities of the internet (even though he is now on record as saying the same internet "is over"), Prince's legacy as a trailblazer is still largely being written.

He may not sell as many records these days. But Jason Draper's Prince: Chaos Disorder And Revolution makes a very convincing case that Prince remains as artistically relevant today as he has ever been. It is also one of the more eye-opening unauthorized rock bios in recent memory.

This article was first published at Blogcritics Magazine.

Living at Home in Your Late Twenties the Concluding Chapter (I hope): Great Film Endings

My room is packed, and tomorrow I will be moving out of my house and driving with my dad and headed to my new apartment in Boston. Living at home in your late twenties is interesting. You learn what you you love and miss about your family, and you also learn how different you become. My family has not changed, my parents and my sister are all the same (my sister is still young and that may change, more as she gets older). I think I have changed a lot since I graduated from high school went to college worked full time went back to graduate school, and now will be living on my own in a new city. I am the eternal adventurer, I think I always wanted to be but this took some risks and time to grow. Many people asked me what I was going to do on my last day, and well I have been packed for a while, my answer has been "run some errands, relax, and hang out with my family" (that may end when my mom comes home). With that statement it proves that sometimes we revert back to child like roles, and while on my own I take charge as my own person. Living at home has been interesting, but like all movies it must come to an end.

Finding a great ending that everyone agrees with is difficult, but there are some films that just defy the odds, end perfectly. Here are the films I think have perfect endings. As I left graduate school I talked about sad movie endings this will focus on the overall ending to films.

Casablanca (1942) My go to film for many things perfect. This movie just does it all right and it doesn't pretend that life ends happily or that they guy will always get the girl. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman show us that sometimes in the roller coaster of life time must go by, and we have to let go of the past.

Some Like it Hot (1959) One of, if not the funniest ending to a movie ever! Jack Lemmon finally reveals he is a man to his suitor, to which he replies "Well nobody's perfect." The first time I saw this ending I laughed my ass off.

The Graduate (1967) As Benjamin takes away from her wedding and they run to catch the bus they are so energized and elated, then the look of their faces changes to fear and they are silent as they realize there may be no where for them to go.

Chinatown (1974) - "She's my daughter and my sister!" As Evelyn Mulrey drives down the street and is killed we find out that greed and corruption still will win out and that our main character Jake has to forget about it because it's Chinatown.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) As Hannibal Lector calls Clarice Starling and states "I am having an old friend for dinner", chills went down my spine and the film ended!

The Usual Suspects (1995) This film is narrated for two hours by Kevin Spacey, and in the end we find out that he is the villain the whole time?! The first time I saw I nearly fell off my chair, great ending!

These are only a few of my favorite endings there are many more, but I think the thing I learned from this ending is that things are more bittersweet. Endings can be filled with laughs, tears, violence, pain, regret, but you have to remember with every door closed there is an opportunity to do more!

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